1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to scent lures, and more particularly to an improved method and system to dispense the scent lure.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
It has long been known that animals, such as game animals like deer, elk and bear, are naturally drawn to certain natural scents, such as the urine or various hormones of the same species of animal. Examples include doe estrous, doe urine, buck urine, skunk urine, fox urine, and bobcat urine or any other appropriate game scent. People often use these scents to attract the animals into their vicinity for hunting, photography or observation.
Typically, the scent is in a liquid form and may be used in any of a variety of ways. One method is to pour the liquid scent lure onto absorbent pads such as felt, which are then hung on branches or twigs. The scent is allowed to vaporize into the ambient air to attract the animals. Another method is to pour the liquid scent lure onto trees or on the ground at either real or artificially created scrapes where a horned animal might mark his territory. Liquid scents may also be dripped in a controlled manner on either real or artificial scrapes.
Devices to dispense scent lures are well known in the prior art. See generally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,036 to Butz; U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,663 to Burgeson; U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,842 to McLearnan; U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,800 to Regan; U.S. Pat. No. 6,174,251 to Lemote; U.S. Pat. No. 6,038,804 to Cuerrier; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,199,311 to Foster.
Conventional methods of applying scents require the user to walk to a given location and apply the scent or scent-dispensing device. This method requires the hunter to walk to each location to be scented causing human scent and noise to be introduced in all areas traversed. Human scent and noise typically repel animals thus defeating the intended purpose of the lure.
Attempts are known in the prior art to dispense scent lures within a given area without introducing undesirable human scents in the process. These can include scented arrows or exploding pellets fired from a pistol designed for that use. Here too are disadvantages in that they are complicated, expensive, non-reusable, create unnecessary and unwanted noise, require additional equipment, or require a large amount of force to break open a pellet.
For example, the Foster device requires a biodegradable, non-reusable pellet to be propelled with a force sufficient to break open on impact. This device requires some sort of additional device to propel the pellet, a hard surface to strike it upon, or both.
Unfortunately, an inexpensive, simple, reusable, easy to retrieve, and versatile scent lure dispenser that addresses these mentioned deficiencies is unknown in the prior art. Thus, there is a need for an improved scent lure dispenser to overcome the disadvantages found in the prior art.